Break Out!: 5 Keys to Go Beyond Your Barriers and Live an Extraordinary Life (12 page)

The Scripture says, “All of God’s promises are yes and amen.” We should get up every morning and say, “Father, thank You for some
yes
es today. Yes, I’m healed. Yes, I’m free. Yes, I’m surrounded by Your favor.”

I read that 90 percent of all first-time businesses fail. Ninety percent of all second-time businesses succeed. But 80 percent of those who start one business and fail never try a second time. What happened? They get stuck on a
no
. They become discouraged and think, “It didn’t happen last time. It will never happen.” They fail to realize they were just one
no
away from seeing it succeed.

Have you ever given up a few
no
s away from seeing a dream come to pass? What if you knew you had to go through only three more
no
s and then you would meet the right person? You would probably go out and find people to meet just to tell them
no
, and get them out of the way!

I have a friend who wanted to start a new business, so he went to his longtime bank for a loan. He had tried the business concept on a small scale and succeeded. He needed his bank to loan him the money to buy some major equipment so he could take the business to another level. He went to the bank he’d used for many years. Everyone on the staff knew him. They loved his business plan. He had proven that the concept worked on a smaller scale. But lending money was very tight. They turned him down.

It was his first
no
. He could have become discouraged and given up, but he went to another bank. The second bank told him the same thing: “It’s a great idea. It’s just not for us.”

Ten banks turned him down. He kept trying: Twenty banks said
no
. Thirty banks said
no
.

You’d think he would get the message and turn negative, thinking, “This will never work. I’m wasting my time.”

But when God puts a dream in your heart, when He gives a promise on the inside, deep down you know that you will succeed. You know your family relationships will be restored. You know your health will return. You know your business dreams will come true.

Like my friend, you realize that every
no
simply means you are one step closer to your
yes
. Thirty-one banks said
no
. Thirty-one banks said, “You’re not for us.” But bank number thirty-two came along and said, “We really like it. We’ll take a chance. Yes, we will do it.”

God had my friend’s
yes
, but he had to go through thirty-one
no
s to get to it.

You don’t know when your
yes
will come. You may only be five
no
s away. Or, who knows, maybe the next person you meet will be your
yes
. The next college you apply to will be your
yes
. The next time you resist the temptation, you’ll break the bad habit. It will be your
yes
.

You may have seen the beautiful actress Janine Turner on television shows like
Dallas
,
Northern Exposure
, and
Friday Night Lights
, as well as
many movies. This very nice lady has been to our services at Lakewood Church. Janine told me that from the time she was a little girl she had a dream of becoming an actress. She loved singing, performing, and entertaining. As a teen, she became a model and then played some small television and movie roles, but she wanted to be a more serious actress.

Between the ages of fifteen and twenty-seven, she went to as many as four auditions a day, every week, month after month, even year after year, with no success at finding a substantial role. She calculated during those twelve years she had been told
no
over one thousand times.

Time and again she heard: “You’re not what we’re looking for. There’s not a role for you. This is not your strength.” She went through a great deal of disappointment and rejection. Many actresses might have given up after one or two of those
no
s, but not Janine. Her attitude was: “That’s just another
no
out of the way. Now I’m closer to my
yes
.”

Janine kept pursuing what God placed in her heart. And one day when she had just a few dollars to her name and didn’t know how she could pay her bills, the top producer from a major network called her about a starring role that would change her life.

“We are starting a new prime-time drama. We think you would be the perfect lead actress. We’re calling it
Northern Exposure
.” The show became a huge hit for five seasons, winning many awards. Janine Turner became a star thanks to that big break. But she had to go through a thousand
no
s to get to that one
yes
.

You may struggle with your own challenges; maybe it’s a bad habit or an addiction. You think, “I have tried a thousand times to break this.” I’m asking you to try one more time. The next time may be your
yes
.

Most likely we won’t have to go through a thousand
no
s like Janine Turner. My question is, “Are you willing to go through a dozen?” Will you keep trying if five banks turn you down? Will you stay in faith if three medical reports in a row are not good? Will you take a chance on meeting somebody new if your last two relationships didn’t work out? If you’re to keep moving forward, you have to keep reminding yourself: “Yes is in my future. Yes, I will get married. Yes, I will be promoted. Yes, I will fulfill my destiny.”

I read about an experiment in which researchers put a predator and its prey—a barracuda and a Spanish mackerel—in the same fish tank.
Normally the barracuda would immediately devour the much smaller Spanish mackerel. But in this experiment the researchers put an invisible glass partition between the two fish so when the barracuda saw the Spanish mackerel and went in for the kill, it slammed into the glass partition again and again, bruising itself every time. Eventually, the barracuda got the message that he wasn’t able to eat that other fish.

When the barracuda finally gave up, the researchers quietly removed the glass partition so nothing separated the two fish. What’s interesting is the barracuda never again went after the Spanish mackerel. They lived happily ever after, side by side in the same fish tank. The barracuda became conditioned to think eating the mackerel would never happen. All it heard was, “No, no, no.” The barracuda didn’t think there were any
yes
es in his future. It had to try only one more time and the
yes
would have been there. The barracuda would have had a nice fish dinner.

What happened to the barracuda happens to many people after they’ve hit the wall many times, so to speak. You may have tried to break an addiction for years, but you failed. You may have worked hard, but didn’t get the promotions you sought. Maybe you pursued dreams, but you ran into closed doors time and again. Like the barracuda, we’ve let this stronghold convince us that it will never happen.

How do you know that God has not removed the glass partition that was holding you back? How do you know that the next time you try won’t be your
yes
? The partition separating you from your dream may have been up for years, but God can remove it in a split second. You’ll never know unless you keep trying, you keep dreaming, you keep pursuing what God put in your heart.

In the Scripture there is a story about the Prophet Elijah and a great drought in the land. Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel. He prayed and asked God to end the drought. After praying, he said to the people, “I can hear the sound of an abundance of rain.”

He was saying, “There’s a
yes
in our future. Rain is coming.”

Elijah told his assistant to look on the other side of the mountain to see if there was any sign of rain. The assistant went out, and came back to report, “No, Elijah. There’s not a cloud in the sky. It’s perfectly clear.”

Elijah didn’t get discouraged and think, “I must have heard God
wrong. There’s not any rain coming. What will we do?” Instead, he said: “That’s one
no
out of the way. Now go back and look again.”

The assistant went out and came back with the same answer, “Elijah, no rain.”

Elijah must have thought, “That’s fine. Two
no
s out of the way.” Then he said, “Go back and look again.”

Three
no
s, four
no
s, five
no
s, six
no
s. After the seventh trip, the assistant came back and said, “Elijah, this time I saw a small cloud in the sky. It wasn’t much. Just the size of a man’s hand.”

Elijah said, “You’d better get your raincoat. Get your umbrella. Rain is coming our way.”

You see, it may be a small
yes
, a faint
yes
, a barely-see-it
yes
, but when you’re expecting things to change in your favor—when you know God has
yes
in your future—you will latch on to even a small sign by faith. “That’s my
yes
. Other people may not see it. Other people may try to talk me out of it. Other people may say I’m just too positive, too hopeful. That’s okay. I’m a believer and not a doubter. I know that’s my
yes
.”

It wasn’t any time before the heavens opened up and they saw the abundance of rain. But had Elijah given up on the first
no
, the second
no
, the sixth
no
, it would have never happened. Think about this. When Elijah sent his assistant out to look, that was an act of his faith. Faith is what causes God to move. There are
yes
es in your future waiting for you to come looking for them.

Not once. Not twice. Not a few times. Keep looking. Keep expecting. Keep dreaming. You’ve got to have a made-up mind. You are in it to win it. You will not let people talk you out of it. You will not give up because it didn’t happen on your timetable. You will not settle for second best because a few doors have closed.

When Thomas Edison was trying to invent the lightbulb, he failed on his first two thousand attempts. Two thousand times he tried and it didn’t work out. Two thousand times he was told no. He could have given up and quit, but he just kept looking for that one
yes
. After Edison came up with a working lightbulb, a reporter asked him about all of his failed experiments. He said, “I never failed once. I just found two thousand ways that wouldn’t work.”

You may have had some setbacks or disappointments, or you tried something that didn’t work out. These were not a waste of your time. Every challenge you’ve gone through has deposited something on the inside. God doesn’t waste anything. You are not defined by your past. You are prepared by your past. Just because you’ve had some
no
s, you are not disqualified from success.
Yes
is still in your future. When you hit your big
yes
like Edison did, all the other
no
s will become insignificant.

Do not feel badly because you’re not where you want to be right this minute. Don’t focus on the disappointment, the failure, or the mistakes. They were all a part of God’s plan to prepare you for your
yes
. Keep moving forward, being your best, honoring God, being determined and persistent, and God promises
yes
is in your future.

W
e all face situations that seem impossible. It’s easy to become discouraged and think that things will never work out. But the Scripture says God is going before us making our crooked places straight. You may not have the connections right now to accomplish your dreams, but you don’t have to worry. God is going before you and lining up the right people. He’s arranging the right breaks, the right opportunities.

You may have lost a job or had your hours cut back. It’s easy to get negative and think nothing will ever change. But you have to realize this loss is not a surprise to God. He’s not up in the heavens scratching His head, thinking, “Oh, no. Now what will I do?”

God has already written every day of your life in His book. He knew exactly when that setback would occur, and the good news is He has already arranged a comeback. Before you had the problem, God already had the solution. He is going before you right now preparing the next chapter of your life. If you will stay in faith and keep the right attitude you will enter a better chapter, a chapter with greater victories and greater fulfillment.

Coworkers may be trying to push you down, playing politics. They may have more seniority than you. They may be more powerful. But when you understand this principle you won’t be upset. You won’t go in there and try to play their games and prove to them who you are. Instead, you will stay in peace knowing that the Most High God, the Creator of the
universe, the One who controls it all, is going before you. He promised to fight your battles. He will be your vindicator. He will make your wrongs right. If you will stay on the high road and just keep being your best, you will see the hand of God at work in amazing ways.

It may not happen overnight, but at the right time, in your due season, God will not only move the wrong people out of the way, but He also will pay you back for every injustice. He will make up for lost time and guide you to where you’re supposed to be. You may be discouraged and think that your situation will never change. Maybe you can’t see anything happening. But if the curtain was pulled back, you could see into the unseen realm. There, you would see God at work arranging things in your favor.

He’s planning to open this door and bring a certain person across your path. He’s getting you in position for the right opportunities. He’s even looking years down the road and arranging solutions to problems that you haven’t had yet.

I want you to get this down in your spirit like never before: “God is going before me making my crooked places straight.” You may have gone through a disappointment, an unfair situation, but don’t settle there. Don’t sink into self-pity. In your future, God has already lined up a new beginning, new friendships, and new opportunities. It’s right up ahead of you. Maybe last year was rough on your finances, or in your career. If you had some setbacks, don’t make the mistake of expecting this year to be the same. Get a new vision. This is a new day.